The United Nations should extend its peacekeeping operations in East Timor for at least another year to establish long-term security in the fledgling nation, a high-ranking U.N. official said in a recent interview in Tokyo.

"Security has greatly improved there but is still fragile. In such a situation, the presence of the U.N. Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) should be extended for one more year," said Atul Khare, a veteran Indian diplomat who heads the U.N.'s peacekeeping mission there.

East Timor (Timor-Leste) won independence from Indonesia in 2002.